Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Look at Delmon Young

Delmon Young was traded to the Twins a little over 2 years ago. Right now, many say the Tampa Bay Rays fleeced the Twins. The Rays got Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Eduardo Morlan for Delmon Young, Brendon Harris, and Jason Pridie. Morlan and Pridie weren't key parts of the trade. Both of them haven't done anything so far, and neither of them look like they will make a significant impact in the majors. Jason Bartlett has been amazing for the Rays at SS, batting a line of .320/.389/.490 in 2009. Matt Garza has also been great for the Rays so far, capping off the 2008 season with a ALCS MVP award.

With those two players being great so far, I am going to take a look at how Delmon Young has progressed in the last 2 years for the Twins.

Delmon Young came into the Twins organization with super-star potential. In the first season for the Twins (2008), his line was .290/.336/.405. That really isn't too bad. His home run total did see a drop to 10 from 13 the previous season. However, he antagonized Gardenhire because he was un-coachable. The Twins organization was getting really mad that Delmon Young would not listen to their advice regarding his batting. The problem was that he would only listen to his father. His father was Delmon's coach throughout high school, and so he always wanted his advice.

In his second season for the Twins (2009), his line was .284/.308/.425. The line looks pretty much the same. One thing that isn't being looked at though, was his 1st half splits vs. his 2nd half splits. There was a marked improvement in his hitting. He started listening to the coaches for the first time at about the half way point. The key change that could be seen was his batting stance. In the first half of the season, he leaned back and put so much weight on his back foot that he was off balance. Because of that, he was having trouble not only getting the bat on the ball, but also had many more ground ball outs. Once he got to the second half of the season, he changed his stance to a slightly wider stance. He also didn't put all his weight on his back foot. The weight was divided equally. The result? A much higher BA, higher slugging, and half the amount of double plays.

Here is a look at his stats from the first half of the season to the second half:

Split

PA

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

GDP

1st Half

202

192

20

51

6

0

3

25

6

59

.266

.292

.344

.636

11

2nd Half

214

203

30

61

10

2

9

35

6

33

.300

.322

.502

.825

6

His AB's were almost identical from the first half to the second half, so let's compare some of his stats from the first half to the second half.

Runs:

Delmon Young had 50% more runs scored in the second half than the first half (30 to 20). That is a pretty dramatic improvement.

Doubles:

He hit over 50% more doubles in the second half than the first half (10 to 6), a result of greater power and not hitting as many ground balls.

Home Runs:

This was one of the key changes for him. He had 3 times as many home runs in the second half than the first half (9 to 3). It seems that there has been more power in his swing with the changed batting stance.

Batting Average:

Young had a whopping .34 higher BA in the second half of the year than the first half (.300 to .266). A big part of that is he is batting with more consistent contact.

Slugging Percentage:

This stat saw by far the biggest change. Young had a whopping .502 Slugging Percentage in the second half compared to .344 in the first half. That is a .158 difference! Anything over .500 is considered very good. That bodes well for the future as the Twins want Young to be a slugging left fielder.

Double Plays:

Here is the interesting stat. Young had 11 ground ball double plays in the first half of the year. In the second half? Just 6! His first half number was almost cut in half. Double plays are big rally killers, so if he can continue to keep his double plays low, the Twins will have many more big rallies.

In conclusion, the Twins might still have that super-star player in Delmon Young. If he can continue to hit like he did in the second half of last year, he might get to the All-Star level sooner than many think.